The Santa Claus Man: The Rise and Fall of a Jazz Age Con Man and the Invention of Christmas in New York

Alex Palmer

ISBN 10: 1493008447 / ISBN 13: 9781493008445

Published by Lyons Press, 2016

About this Item

This is a Very Solid and very bright American History Hardback in Near Fine condition with a Near Fine+ jacket Cover. c2016. Presumed 1st Edition. This solid book is in Wonderful condition both inside and out. It looks very, very lightly read. The Creme Textured cover is Very clean & very bright. The edges are all very good. The spine ends have a a light spine end wrinkle. The pages are tight & bright & unmarked. no names. The jacket with price, is also in wonderful condition. Very Bright and Very Clean with Very nice edges and corners. Nice spine ends. (NOT a remainder). Nice Illustrations. 306 Pages. (Really Nice Book). All books are securely packaged and Promptly Mailed. #23976-726.

Seller Inventory # 23976

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Santa Claus Man: The Rise and Fall of a Jazz Age Con Man and the Invention of Christmas in New York
• Publisher: Lyons Press
• Publication Date: 2016
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1493008447
• ISBN 13: 9781493008445
• Binding: Hardcover
• Condition: Near Fine
• Dust Jacket Condition: Near Fine
• Seller catalogs:
  • American History Books

About this title

Synopsis

New York Times Bestseller

#1 Amazon Bestseller - True Crime

#1 Amazon Bestseller - Christmas

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Before the charismatic John Duval Gluck, Jr. came along, letters from New York City children to Santa Claus were destroyed, unopened, by the U.S. Post Office. Gluck saw an opportunity, and created the Santa Claus Association. The effort delighted the public, and for 15 years money and gifts flowed to the only group authorized to answer Santa's mail. Gluck became a Jazz Age celebrity, rubbing shoulders with the era's movie stars and politicians, and even planned to erect a vast Santa Claus monument in the center of Manhattan -- until Gotham's crusading charity commissioner discovered some dark secrets in Santa's workshop.

The rise and fall of the Santa Claus Association is a caper both heartwarming and hardboiled, involving stolen art, phony Boy Scouts, a kidnapping, pursuit by the FBI, a Coney Island bullfight, and above all, the thrills and dangers of a wild imagination. It's also the larger story of how Christmas became the extravagant holiday we celebrate today, from Santa's early beginnings in New York to the country's first citywide Christmas tree and Macy's first grand holiday parade.The Santa Claus Man is a holiday tale with a dark underbelly, and an essential read for lovers of Christmas stories, true crime, and New York City history.

About the Author

Alex Palmer is freelance writer and researcher who curated an exhibit on the Santa Claus Association for Brooklyn's City Reliquary in December 2012. It received wide press attention and was the subject of a major holiday feature for WNYC. He is the author of two previous books: Weird-o-Pedia (Skyhorse, 2012), for which he researched hundreds of unusual facts about everyday things from Donuts to Dogs and which has sold more than 10,000 copies to date, with special distribution in Urban Outfitters and elsewhere; and Literary Miscellany (Skyhorse, 2010), which offers a breezy and entertaining survey of the history of literature. His writing has appeared in the NY Daily News, USA Today, The New York Post, Publishers Weekly, and many other outlets. He lives in Brooklyn, New York.